You can aid the library of the American Scientific
Affiliation in the following ways:

1. Suggest books which should be purchased. A
thousand readers will run into valuable books
more readily than one librarian. So if you have a
choice book, send a short review of it to me and
it will appear in the journal.

2. Borrow books from our library after reviews appear in the journal, or from books listed on
our A.S.A. library catalog. A complete list of
books may be obtained from the librarian.

Some recent loans are to:

A woman in Missouri preparing a discussion for
High School students.

A theologian writing on the Flood.

A member of the executive committee surveying the
"Doorway Papers".

A college student studying apologetics.

A teacher sampling literature on science and scriptures.

We are buying a complete set of "Doorway Papers".
These are written by anthropologist Arthur Custance
on such topics as "Why Noah Cursed Canaan", "The
Problem of Evil", and "The Interpretation of Genesis
I You will find them well documented and stimulating whether you agree with them or not,

Perhaps you have a valuable book you would like
others to enjoy. Give it or lend it to our library. Our
collection contains the journal of Transactions of the
Victoria Institute, an English organization comparable
to ours. In 1958 the publication changed to a tri-yearly
magazine, Faith and Thought. A sample issue contains
the following titles: Faith's Debt to Scepticism, Some
Ancient Semitic Ideas of the Afterlife, The Concepts
or Randomness and Progress in Evolution, Sigmund
Freud, Life and Work.

R. L. Mixter
Wheaton College
Wheaton, Illinois

The Editor's Views

The perennial question arises as to what kind and
quality papers should appear in the journal. As to
kind, most decisions are not too difficult. Some borderline cases including a point pertinent to the cause of
the organization may be included.

As to quality, well, everyone is concerned that papers
be of the best. But to set up an infallible set of objective rules by which to determine quality (and to a
certain extent the subject of the paper) is easier said
than done.

Some rules are easy. It is usually a simple matter
to find whether an author is misinformed on facts or
is only partially acquainted with the facts pertinent
to his study. Composition is another criterion. Beyond
that, the line of acceptance or rejection becomes more
hazy.

It would be easy to establish a "party line" in accepted scientific theory and in theology to which any
accepted paper must adhere. Among most journals
this seems to be the case. One doesn't expect to find
an amillenial article, for example, in a magazine supported by people with premillenial convictions; neither
does one look for an article on creation in the journal
of Evolution. These policies, no doubt, have their good
purposes.

The Editor, however, believes that the A.S.A. has
a purpose, and can thus best fulfill a needed function,
of open-minded study that precludes such restrictions.
In pursuing that policy of liberal thought within the
framework of revealed Christianity, it is inevitable
that some papers will get into print that will meet
with considerable objection. And the Editor freely admits having made some poor judgments; however, it
is not uncommon to have been scored for printing an
article and, by another, complimented for having had
the opportunity to read the same. At that, about onehalf of the papers received are turned down.

It is his (Editor's) belief that a primary function of
the A.S.A. is to allow free discussion. It should be a
medium for producing new thought, new approaches,
new solutions to some old problems concerning science
and Christianity.

It should be made clear that the Council has given
the Editor quite free rein in such matters and therefore he is responsible for selection of papers that are
printed. Of course, he is dependent to a great extent
on the advice of referees of papers.

Finally, it should be emphatically pointed out that
any paper or column is to be considered only as the
views of the author, not as an opinion or policy of
the A.S.A. membership, Executive Council, nor the
Editor.

NEW FELLOWS

The following members were recently elected to the
status of Fellows of the American Scientific Affiliation
in recognition of their contributions in various ways
to the development of the aims of the organization.